Most readers had the same objective. They wanted to know which of the various national currencies of the world ranks as the best one. In other words, they wanted to know which of them lost the least amount of purchasing power when using gold as the numéraire. Gold is an excellent 'measuring stick', but I also did the calculations for silver. The rates of appreciation of gold and silver in terms of 23 world currencies from 2000-to-2009 are presented in the tables below.

Gold's Rate of Appreciation Against 23 World Currencies

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Average

Switzerland

franc

-4.1%

5.0%

3.9%

7.0%

-3.0%

36.2%

13.9%

22.1%

-0.3%

20.3%

10.1%

Denmark

krone

1.3%

7.7%

5.8%

-0.2%

-2.2%

35.5%

10.2%

18.8%

10.9%

20.3%

10.8%

euro/DEM

euro

1.1%

8.1%

5.9%

-0.5%

-2.1%

35.1%

10.2%

18.8%

11.0%

20.4%

10.8%

Canada

dollar

-2.1%

8.8%

23.7%

-2.2%

-2.0%

14.5%

22.8%

11.5%

31.1%

5.9%

11.2%

New Zealand

dollar

10.8%

8.9%

-0.9%

-4.4%

-4.2%

25.1%

19.3%

19.5%

40.5%

-1.5%

11.3%

Norway

krone

3.6%

4.5%

-3.6%

14.9%

-4.0%

31.0%

13.5%

14.6%

36.0%

2.8%

11.3%

Australia

dollar

11.2%

11.3%

13.5%

-10.5%

1.4%

25.6%

14.4%

18.1%

33.0%

-3.6%

11.4%

China

yuan

-5.7%

2.5%

24.8%

19.5%

5.2%

15.2%

18.8%

22.9%

-1.0%

24.0%

12.6%

Singapore

dollar

-2.1%

9.3%

17.2%

17.1%

1.1%

20.4%

13.3%

23.1%

6.0%

21.0%

12.6%

Thailand

baht

5.0%

4.3%

21.8%

9.7%

3.0%

24.9%

8.2%

7.4%

24.6%

19.0%

12.8%

Sweden

krona

4.7%

13.5%

3.7%

-1.0%

-2.5%

40.7%

5.8%

24.2%

29.1%

12.6%

13.1%

Malaysia

ringgit

-5.7%

2.5%

24.7%

19.6%

5.2%

17.6%

14.7%

23.2%

10.3%

22.9%

13.5%

Japan

yen

5.5%

17.4%

13.0%

7.9%

0.9%

35.7%

24.0%

23.4%

-14.0%

27.1%

14.1%

Hong Kong

dollar

-5.4%

2.4%

24.7%

19.1%

5.4%

17.9%

23.2%

31.8%

5.2%

24.0%

14.8%

USA

dollar

-5.7%

2.5%

24.7%

19.6%

5.2%

18.2%

22.8%

31.4%

5.8%

23.9%

14.9%

Taiwan

dollar

-0.4%

8.1%

23.7%

17.1%

-1.7%

22.1%

22.1%

30.8%

6.9%

20.9%

15.0%

UK

pound

1.8%

5.4%

12.7%

7.9%

-2.0%

31.8%

7.8%

29.7%

43.7%

12.1%

15.1%

South Korea

won

5.2%

6.2%

12.6%

20.2%

-8.6%

15.3%

13.1%

32.3%

42.7%

14.3%

15.3%

India

rupee

1.3%

5.8%

24.0%

13.5%

0.0%

22.8%

20.5%

17.4%

30.5%

18.4%

15.4%

Brazil

real

1.7%

21.4%

91.0%

-2.2%

-3.5%

3.9%

12.3%

9.6%

37.9%

-6.8%

16.5%

South Africa

rand

15.9%

62.4%

-10.8%

-6.7%

-11.3%

32.5%

36.6%

28.1%

43.5%

-1.9%

18.8%

Mexico

peso

-4.3%

-2.4%

42.0%

28.9%

4.4%

12.7%

24.8%

32.9%

34.0%

17.0%

19.0%

Sri Lanka

rupee

8.8%

15.2%

29.7%

19.6%

13.5%

15.6%

29.3%

32.9%

10.0%

25.5%

20.0%

The best currency compared to gold is the Swiss franc, but even this venerable national currency lost 10.1% per annum on average for the past ten years.

Silver's Rate of Appreciation Against 23 World Currencies

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Average

New Zealand

dollar

-0.4%

6.2%

-16.7%

-0.9%

4.1%

37.2%

41.2%

4.9%

1.1%

18.6%

9.5%

Australia

dollar

-0.1%

8.5%

-4.6%

-7.3%

10.2%

37.7%

35.3%

3.7%

-4.3%

16.1%

9.5%

Canada

dollar

-12.0%

6.1%

4.0%

1.4%

6.5%

25.5%

45.3%

-2.1%

-5.7%

27.6%

9.7%

Norway

krone

-6.9%

1.8%

-18.9%

19.1%

4.3%

43.6%

34.3%

0.6%

-2.1%

23.8%

10.0%

Switzerland

franc

-13.9%

2.3%

-12.6%

11.0%

5.4%

49.3%

34.8%

7.2%

-28.2%

44.9%

10.0%

Denmark

krone

-9.0%

5.0%

-11.1%

3.5%

6.2%

48.5%

30.3%

4.3%

-20.2%

44.8%

10.3%

euro/DEM

euro

-9.1%

5.3%

-11.0%

3.2%

6.4%

48.1%

30.4%

4.3%

-20.1%

45.0%

10.3%

Thailand

baht

-5.6%

1.7%

2.4%

13.7%

12.0%

36.9%

28.0%

-5.7%

-10.4%

43.3%

11.6%

Sweden

krona

-5.9%

10.6%

-12.8%

2.6%

6.0%

54.2%

25.1%

9.1%

-7.1%

35.5%

11.7%

Singapore

dollar

-12.0%

6.5%

-1.5%

21.4%

9.8%

32.0%

34.1%

8.1%

-23.7%

45.7%

12.0%

China

yuan

-15.3%

-0.1%

4.9%

23.9%

14.3%

26.3%

40.5%

7.9%

-28.8%

49.3%

12.3%

Malaysia

ringgit

-15.3%

-0.1%

4.8%

24.0%

14.3%

28.9%

35.7%

8.2%

-20.6%

48.0%

12.8%

Brazil

real

-8.6%

18.3%

60.5%

1.4%

4.9%

13.9%

32.9%

-3.8%

-0.8%

12.2%

13.1%

UK

pound

-8.5%

2.7%

-5.3%

11.9%

6.5%

44.4%

27.5%

13.9%

3.4%

35.0%

13.2%

South Korea

won

-5.5%

3.5%

-5.3%

24.6%

-0.7%

26.4%

33.8%

16.2%

2.7%

37.6%

13.3%

India

rupee

-9.0%

3.1%

4.3%

17.7%

8.6%

34.6%

42.6%

3.1%

-6.1%

42.6%

14.1%

Taiwan

dollar

-10.5%

5.4%

3.9%

21.5%

6.8%

33.9%

44.4%

14.9%

-23.1%

45.6%

14.3%

Hong Kong

dollar

-15.0%

-0.2%

4.9%

23.4%

14.5%

29.3%

45.8%

15.8%

-24.3%

49.3%

14.3%

USA

dollar

-15.3%

-0.1%

4.8%

24.0%

14.3%

29.6%

45.3%

15.4%

-23.8%

49.3%

14.4%

Japan

yen

-5.2%

14.4%

-5.0%

11.9%

9.6%

48.8%

46.7%

8.3%

-38.1%

53.0%

14.4%

South Africa

rand

4.1%

58.3%

-25.0%

-3.2%

-3.7%

45.3%

61.6%

12.5%

3.3%

18.1%

17.1%

Mexico

peso

-14.0%

-4.9%

19.4%

33.6%

13.4%

23.5%

47.7%

16.7%

-3.5%

41.0%

17.3%

Sri Lanka

rupee

-2.3%

12.3%

9.0%

24.0%

23.3%

26.7%

52.9%

16.8%

-20.9%

51.2%

19.3%

The best currency compared to silver is a tie between the New Zealand dollar and Australian dollar. They lost 9.5% per annum on average for the past ten years.

So what really is the world's best currency in terms of preserving purchasing power? It is gold, and silver is a close second. When viewed in terms of the above tables, no national currency even comes close. This conclusion is also confirmed by the following chart which presents a base-100 analysis of crude oil prices against three national currencies and the precious metals.

Both gold and silver purchase essentially the same amount of crude oil they did at the beginning of this decade. In fact, an ounce of gold or silver purchases basically the same amount of crude oil that they did at any time during the past 60-year time span presented in the above chart. The precious metals have a proven track record of preserving purchasing power.